Brand: ZAPP ® Pour-on for Sheep

Company: ELANCO (BAYER)


FORMULATION: «pour-on» for topical administration.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT(S)triflumuron 25 g/L (= 2.5%)

CHEMICAL CLASS of the active ingredient(s): insect growth regulator (= IGR, benzoylphenyl urea)


INDICATIONS: SHEEP

PARASITES CONTROLLED* (spectrum of activity)

* Country-specific differences may apply: read the product label.

Australia

  • Control of body lice Bovicola (Damalinia) ovis on shorn sheep up to 7 days off-shears and unshorn lambs up to 3 months of age.  
  • Protects against the establishment of lice populations for up to 12 weeks.

New Zealand

  • Control of body lice Bovicola (Damalinia) ovis on shorn fine wool sheep breeds up to 7 days off-shears, on coarse wool sheep breeds off-shears or up to 6 months following shearing.
  • Control of blowfly strike (Lucilia spp) on coarse wool sheep breeds up to 6 months following shearing.

RECOMMENDED DOSE*

* Read the product label for further details on dosing and administration.

Use recommendations (Australia):

Sheep weight (kg) Dose rate (mL)
≤10 10
10.1 - 20 12
20.1 - 30 15
30.1 - 55 20
55.1 - 75 25
75.1 - 85 30
85.1 - 95 35


SAFETY

  • LD50 (acute oral) in rats: >5000 mg/kg (source: MSDS)
  • LD50 (acute dermal) in rats: >5000 mg/kg (source: MSDS)
  • Estimated hazard class of the a.i. according to the WHO classification of pesticides: U, unlikely to present acute hazard in normal use.

Withholding periods (=withdrawal times) for meat, milk & shearing (country-specific differences may apply: read the product label)


RESISTANCE PREVENTION

Risk of resistance in BODY LICE? YES. Resistance reported in Australia in field populations.

  • Australia. Resistance of body lice Bovicola (Damalinia) ovis to triflumuron and other benzoylphenyl ureas has been reported in Australia and it must be expected to increase. For this reason efficacy of this product against sheep body lice may not achieve the label claims. Resistance of sheep body lice to synthetic pyrethroids is also high and widespread in Australia. For this reason compounds of this chemical class are no more approved for lice control in Australia.
  • New Zealand. To our knowledge there are no confirmed reports on body lice resistance to triflumuron or other benzoylphenyl ureas in New Zealand, but based on the abundant use of this chemical classes the risk that it develops is real.

Alternative chemical classes/active ingredients for product rotation to prevent resistance of body lice to triflumuron:

These alternative products may not be available in all countries, or may not be available as pour-ons.

Risk of resistance in BLOWFLY STRIKE? YES. Resistance widespread and high in Australia, reported in New Zealand in field populations.

  • Australia. Resistance of blowflies to triflumuron and other benzoylphenyl ureas is widespread and rather high in Australia. As a consequence approval of ZAPP and other products containing benzoylphenyl ureas for blowfly strike prevention was withdrawn in the 2000s.
  • New Zealand. Resistance of blowflies to triflumuron has been reported in several field strains of L. cuprina in New Zealand, but so far it seems not to be as widespread and high as it is in Australia. Nevertheless, for this reason efficacy of this product against blowfly strike may not achieve the label claims.
  • It is interesting to know that benzoylphenyl ureas show cross-resistance with organophosphates (e.g. diazinon), a chemical class that was massively used on sheep in the past against blowfly strike in Australia and New Zealand, now vastly replaced by less toxic compounds.

Alternative chemical classes/active ingredients for product rotation to prevent resistance of blowfly strike to triflumuron:

These alternative products may not be available in all countries, or may not be available as pour-ons.

This means that if this product does not achieve the expected efficacy against the mentioned parasites, it may be due to resistance and not to incorrect use, which is usually the most frequent cause of product failure.

Learn more about resistance and how it develops.


MARKETING

Are the active ingredients of this product ORIGINAL* or GENERICS**?

  • GENERICS

*Meaning that they are still patent protected and generics are not yet available
**Meaning that they have lost patent protection and may be acquired from manufacturers of generic active ingredients other than the holder of the original patent.

COUNTRIES where this brand/product is marketed: Australia, New Zealand.
GENERIC BRANDS available? YES, a few in Australia and New Zealand.

Click here to learn more about GENERIC vs. ORIGINAL drugs.

For an overview on the most used antiparasitic pour-on brands click here.


COMMENTS

ZAPP Pour-on for sheep was the first and original product containing triflumuron introduced by BAYER for sheep body lice control in the mid 1990s. It is also marketed in New Zealand for the prevention of both blowfly strike and body lice in sheep.

Triflumuron is a broad-spectrum insect growth regulator (IGR) belonging to the benzoylphenyl-ureas introduced in the 1980s (by BAYER). It is effective against immature stages (larvae, nymphs, etc.) of numerous insects but not against adult stages. It also used in horses against body lice but not in other livestock or pets. It is also used moderately against agricultural and household pests.

It is important to understand that this and other products containing insect growth regulators do not kill adult lice that may infect sheep at the time of treatment, i.e. they don't have a knock-down effect. What they do is to prevent development of immature stages. Larvae and/or nymphs fail to molt to the next stage and die. Therefore they are used to prevent the further development of immature stages or eggs of occasional adult lice that sheep may catch.

Triflumuron and other benzoylphenyl ureas conquered the sheep body lice market very quickly in Australia and New Zealand after resistance to synthetic pyrethroids exploded and organophosphates that still worked well were progressively withdrawn for safety reasons.

It is interesting to know that neither triflumuron nor other benzoylphenyl ureas are used on sheep in the EU, the US or in Latin America, where body lice is also an important pest of sheep. The likely reason is that organophosphates and/or synthetic pyrethroids are still widely used in these countries against this pest that has not yet become resistant to these chemicals.


DISCLAIMER

This article IS NOT A PRODUCT LABEL. It offers complementary information that may be useful to veterinary professionals and users that are not familiar with veterinary antiparasitics. 

Information offered in this article has been extracted from publications issued by manufacturers, government agencies (e.g. EMEA, FDA, USDA, etc.) or in the scientific literature. No guarantee is given on its accuracy, integrity, sufficiency, actuality and opportunity, and any liability is denied. Read the site's DISCLAIMER.

In case of doubt contact the manufacturer or a veterinary professional.